Tories demand plan to fix our crumbling roads

COUNCILS have spent £600,000 a day fixing Scotland’s crumbling roads over the past seven years, it was revealed yesterday.

Scotland's road network has been ranked worst in Britain for potholes [ALAMY]

Spending on patching potholes and other repairs rose from £163million in 2007/08 to £220million over the past 12 months.

It is up 35 per cent since the SNP came to power in 2007 and the total amount spent on maintenance stands at £14billion.

Research from the Scottish Conservatives found 17 out of the 26 councils which provided figures overspent on repairs last year.

Our roads are a national embarrassment

Alex Johnstone, Tory transport spokesman

Scottish Borders Council blew its budget by an extra £4million while and East Dunbartonshire was over by £1million.

It has led to calls for the Scottish Government to set up a dedicated potholes fund to repair the “national embarrassment” of Scotland’s roads.

Tory transport spokesman Alex Johnstone said: “We are calling for an end to the current slap-dash approach to fixing roads. Road users have to put up with Scotland’s roads every day and many drivers are angry. Our roads are a national embarrassment.

“It is time the SNP put in place a long-term strategy to bring them into the 21st century.

“The UK Government has led the way in introducing a dedicated fund for road repairs, so why not introduce it here?”

Scotland’s road network has been ranked the worst in Britain for potholes, with 12,000 miles in need of urgent repair.

Automobile Association research in 2011 warned that Scotland’s roads are “plagued with potholes”.

Drivers dealt with an average of 20.1 per neighbourhood – well above the UK average of 14.9, the AA said at the time.

Financial watchdog Audit Scotland found only 58 per cent of unclassified roads were in an acceptable condition. Paul Watters, head of roads and transport policy at the AA, said yesterday: “Any rise on spending on roads maintenance is to be welcomed.

“If money is spent on actually upgrading roads, it is worthwhile, but if it goes mostly towards patching up potholes, it becomes a bottomless pit.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said that the country’s councils have been treated “very fairly” in terms of funding, adding that ministers have approved £2.6billion of investment in trunk roads and motorways since 2007.

She added: “Local authorities are responsible for the roads in their areas. It is up to them to allocate their share of these funds and decide how much is spent on road repairs and potholes.

“We are aware of the need to work with road authorities to improve the condition of Scotland’s roads and we have established a Road Collaboration Board to help authorities to work together more efficiently and effectively.”